Round 2 in Sibu: DAP expects tougher fight

PENANG: DAP said today it expected a tougher contest in the upcoming Sibu parliamentary by-election in Sarawak than that in the just-concluded parliamentary by-election in Hulu Selangor where its coalition partner PKR was defeated.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Sibu as well as the three state seats within it were Barisan Nasional seats. The state seats are Nangka, Pelawan and Bawang Assan.

"We are expecting a tougher fight in Sibu but we will not give up and will continue to fight towards achieving justice for all Malaysians," he told reporters, here.

The Sibu seat fell vacant following the death of five-term MP and federal deputy transport minister Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9.


The Election Commission has set May 8 for nomination and May 16 for polling.

Similar tactic in Sibu
Lim, who is Penang chief minister, claimed that the BN had promised to allocate about RM160 million for projects in Hulu Selangor and he predicted that a similar or bigger amount would be promised for Sibu.

He said the Pakatan Rakyat candidate for the Hulu Selangor by-election, Zaid Ibrahim of PKR, had garnered more votes than that obtained by PKR's late MP Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad in the 2008 general election.

Zaid had polled 23,272 votes as against 24,997 obtained by the victor, P Kamalanathan of BN.  Zainal had obtained 23,177 votes in 2008. - Bernama